1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a honeycomb structure which may serve, for example, as a filter for collecting and removing particulates etc. in exhaust gas discharged from an internal combustion engine such as, for example, a diesel engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, it has been a problem that particulates such as soot contained in exhaust gas discharged from internal combustion engines of vehicles such as, for example, engines in buses or trucks, construction machines, etc. are harmful to the environment or to human bodies.
Therefore, there have been proposed various filters using honeycomb structures made of porous ceramics for collecting particulates in exhaust gas and purifying the exhaust gas.
As such a honeycomb structure in the background art, for example, there has been disclosed a honeycomb structure comprised of two or more honeycomb segments and a bonding layer. The bonding layer is provided for bonding the honeycomb segments with each other. The Young's modulus of the bonding layer is not higher than 20% of the Young's modulus of the honeycomb segments, or the material strength of the bonding layer is lower than the material strength of the honeycomb segments (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).
It is described that such a honeycomb structure has durability because thermal stress generated in use is too small to generate no crack.